Shoe lace or strap fastener.



PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904.

No. 775,406. v L. F. RAMSEY.

SHOE LACE QR STRAB FASTBNBR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. l2I 1903.

NOMODEL) In 51m, I a

WITNESSES:

UNTTED STATES Patented November 22, 1904.

PATENT @rricn.

SHOE LACE OR STRAP FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,406, dated November 22, 1904.

Application filed December 12, 1903. Serial IIO- 184,873. No modelh To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS F. RAMSEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe Lace or Strap Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lace or strap fasteners.

The object of my invention is to provide a device by which the end of a shoe lace or strap may be quickly and securely fastened and from which the lace or strap may as readily be released.

My invention consists in certain novel features of construction, which are hereinafter fully described and claimed,

In the accompanying drawings, illustrative of my invention, Figure l represents a front elevation view of the upper part of a'shoe to which is secured a lace-fastener of my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the fastener, the cylindrical portion of the base being shown in horizontal section and the corruthe shoe-leather and the ends bent parallel with the body, so as to clench the leather. At one end of the plate 1 is formed a transverse hollow cylindrical portion 3, in whichis preferably rotatively mounted one end of the member 4, comprising, preferably, a resilient wire having a plurality of transverse corrugations 5, over and underwhich the lace or strap 6 is interwoven. The other end of the plate 1 is provided at one side edge with a 11p 7, which extends at substantially right angles to the plate on its upper or outer side,

the end of said lip being turned over the plate, so as to receive thereunder the free end of the member 4 when the said member is swung to a position substantially parallel with the plate 1. For convenience in releasing the member 4 from or engaging it with the lip 7 the free end of the member 4 may be provided with a head 8, preferably formed by bending the end of the member 4 back upon itself. When the device is to be used as a fastener for a shoe-lace, the member 4 has the corrugations 5 made in the form of a series of connected undulations disposed in a plane parallel with the plate 1 when the device is in the closed position. I/Vhen to be used as a strap-fastener, the corrugations of the member 4 of the device are formed as shown in Fig. 3, the transverse portions of the corrugated member being disposed at right angles to the length of the plate 1.

In operating the invention the base-plate is secured in any suitable manner to the shoe or other support and the member 4 swung to the position shown in Fig. 4. The lace 6 is then inserted under the first transverse portion of the corrugated part, thence over the next transverse portion, and thence under the next corrugated portion. The member 4 is then swung over and substantially parallel with the plate 1, the free end of the member 4 being forced under the lip 7, thus securely clamping the lace 6 between the two members. By interweaving the lace 6 in and out of the corrugations 5 the lace is made to assume an undulatory form, in which form it will be securely held against lengthwise movement. To release the lace,it is but necessary to free the member 4 from the lip 7 by springing the member 4to the-positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, from which position it can be swung to the position shown in Fig. 4, and then the lace may be quickly disengaged from the corrugations. The device is similarly operated when it is used to fasten the end of a strap.

To retain the member 4 in the cylindrical portion 3 of the .plate 1, any suitable means may be employed. In the drawings I have shown a portion of the inner side of one end of the cylindrical portion cut away Where the Wire 4 emerges from the cylindrical portion, and opposite this cut-away portion is upwardly extended opposite the central hole of the cylindrical portion a projection 9, which permits the free swinging of the member 4:, but prevents its slipping out of the cylindrical portion of the plate 1.

My invention may be variously modified Without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination With a base-plate having at one end a lip and at the other end a transverse tubular portion, a projection opposite In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in 2 5 presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS F. RAMSEY. Witnesses:

WARREN D. House, B. H. HOUSE. 

